Trends

The challenge of international development requires a medley of ideas. At the Multilateral Investment Fund, we work in an array of topics that are at the forefront of efforts to spur the economic development of the private sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Each week, this blog "Trends" brings you our latest research and thinking.

Startups and scale-ups create the vast majority of jobs in the formal economy, providing, on average, 66 percent of jobs worldwide and the greatest share of jobs in low-income countries. Moreover, small and medium-sized enterprises are important not just for job creation, but also for economic growth, thanks to their outstanding capacity to increase productivity through innovation.

The drive some have to solve a social or environmental problem while creating their own personal project is the seed of all social entrepreneurship. However, in order to channel entrepreneurial spirit and aspirations, and foster a culture that facilitates and promotes them, there are different actors playing instrumental roles: public agencies, universities, incubators, financing intermediaries for entrepreneurs and, more recently, accelerators.

How does the private sector anticipate and build climate resilience in the face of increasing risks, such as cyclonic winds, flooding and storm surge, drought, heat waves, sea level rise and wildfires? Answering this question depends very much on whom you ask. In public policy circles, private actors are often characterized as relatively unconcerned about the threat of climate change, more focused on short-term financial results, and discounting climate risk as an issue in the distant future.

All around the world, women are taking leadership roles in both government services and private business ventures more and more often. According to a global survey conducted by the human resources consulting firm DDI, companies that perform best financially have the greatest numbers of women in leadership roles. However, female leaders still often experience challenges related to the traditional gender roles that have been imposed on them. It is important for all sectors to pay attention to how such challenges affect women’s ability to serve as leaders, and therefore affect the overall effectiveness of the operation.